


Familiar Faces

by ladydragon76



Series: Reckless Sparks [1]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:41:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24080755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladydragon76/pseuds/ladydragon76
Summary: Summary:Hot Rod and Deadlock had A Thingtmback in the early days of the war.  It was illicit.  It was fragging treason, actually, but they weren't the only ones.  But now Hot Rod is Rodimus, and Deadlock is Drift, and they're so very, very different than they once were when affiliation badges were hidden for the sake of illegal street races and equally hard and fast frags in dark alleys.
Series: Reckless Sparks [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1737340
Comments: 24
Kudos: 82





	Familiar Faces

**Author's Note:**

> **'Verse:** IDW  
>  **Series:** Reckless Sparks  
>  **Rating:** PG-13  
>  **Characters:** Hot Rod/Deadlock, Rodimus/Drift  
>  **Warnings:** Taking liberties with canon timelines,  
>  **Notes:** Tier Reward fic for Flyby!

It was late when Rodimus snuck into the medbay to check on Perceptor. They were lucky that the _Xantium_ had a CR tube, but Rodimus never liked seeing a mech in it. Seeing Perceptor- sweet, quiet, nerdy little Perceptor, floating there weightless was somehow infinitely worse. The tank glowed a dim blue in the dark of the medbay, leaving everything else in shadow.

It felt infinitely lonely.

"Hey, buddy," Rodimus said softly as he pressed a palm to the transparasteel. "Sorry you're hurt."

Perceptor wasn't a Wrecker- not really. He wasn't supposed to be out on missions, but he was an Autobot through and through, and they'd needed him, so he'd gone.

"Wrecker now, though, aren't you?" Rodimus murmured, frowning at the ruin of the scientist's chest. They all thought of Perceptor as 'little', but he wasn't. He was taller than Rodimus, and Rodimus had grown a fair amount when the Matrix bonded to him and decided to make him a Prime. Pits, Perceptor was taller than most of them on the ship, but he was such a gentle spark. Talkative and friendly. Sweet even. It made Rodimus' spark crackle painfully to think of how this might change their little scientist-come-medic. Because it would. Rodimus knew how much trauma could change a mech.

"Do you actually care?" a voice asked, and Rodimus whipped around, spark slamming and a blaster in his hand before he completed the turn.

A white mech stepped silently from the shadows, blue limning the edges of his plating. Rodimus lowered the business end of his blaster, but didn't put it away. "Drift, right?"

Drift grunted something that sounded affirmative, his optics bright and helm tipped as he frowned at Rodimus. "You were going to leave him behind."

"I didn't know he was down," Rodimus said, frowning too, and not entirely because his dubious honor was being questioned. There was something familiar in the tilt of that helm. "I am grateful you did and helped him though," he added and tossed in a disarming smile.

Blue optics blinked and the mech's head reared back. "Hot Rod." Drift stepped closer, into the light more, helm tilted again but to the other side, and his frown gone disbelieving now.

"Rodimus Prime now," Rodimus said, though he squinted at the mech. He _was_ familiar, but it wasn't in his looks- well... maybe the face? A little? "I don't recall meeting a Drift before."

Those optics blinked again. "We used to race," Drift replied.

"Ah." Rodimus couldn't hope to remember all the mechs he'd run street races against. "Disguised yourself? Different designation?" That made sense. Pits, Hot Rod _should_ have chosen a different name for himself for those runs, but he'd still had an active death wish back then, and had sort of hoped that he'd manage to frag off the wrong Decepticon, or maybe even a fellow Autobot with a mean streak.

Drift's face twisted a bit. "For all I learned in New Crystal City, I don't think I'll ever forgive them for how much they changed my body." He looked up and met Rodimus' optics head-on. "It's me, Roddy. Deadlock."

**Author's Note:**

> [CLICK HERE](https://ladydragon76.dreamwidth.org/334490.html) to learn more about me!
> 
> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:  
>  **Feedback**
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * Constructive criticism
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction (regarding the fic tho please)
> 

> 
> **Author Responses**  
>  This author replies to comments, mostly with a simple but heartfelt 'thank you' in acknowledgement of said comment, but longer replies happen as feel natural.  
> If you don't want a reply, for any reason, just put a 'whisper' up front or at the end, and I will simply and quietly appreciate your comment without responding. ^_^


End file.
